Second Continental Conference of African Governmental Experts on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons, Windhoek, Namibia, 14-16 December 2005

Commitments in: Peace and security - Small and Light Weapons

"...14. Therefore, the conference agrees that in the implementation of the UNPoA, Member States should,

15. At the national level:
a. Ensure the sustainability of national initiatives by, inter-alia, developing needs and resource assessments; promoting relevant partnerships for implementation with civil society; and accepting primary responsibility of states in the implementation of action.

b. Strengthen the existing National Focal Points/ national coordinating agencies

c. Consider as priorities for national action the mechanisms recommended in the Bamako and UNPoA frameworks, such as:
i. The establishment and development of operative national focal points, national action plans and/or national coordinating agencies where they do not already exist;
ii. The need for strengthening of regulations for arms management, including the need to strengthen and harmonize legislation to that effect;
iii. The need to engage in training and capacity building programmes for law enforcement agencies on all aspects of the issue but particularly on border controls, stockpile management and recordkeeping;
iv. The improvement, where needed, of operational capacity for enforcement including stockpile management, monitoring, destruction, recordkeeping and border controls;
v. The enhancement of information exchange and cooperation mechanisms to prevent combat and eradicate illicit small arms and light weapons trade;
vi. The strengthening of the ability of member states to cooperate, especially amongst neighboring states, in identifying and tracing in accordance with the provisions of the International Instrument to enable states to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner; Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons, in a timely and reliable manner illicit small arms and light weapons.

d. Urge all States, which have not yet done so, to engage in the implementation of the UNPoA .

e. Urge all States to:
vii. Regulate stockpile management and secure them against theft or disappearance; and,
viii. Adopt, as soon as possible, where they do not exist, the necessary legislative and other measures to establish as a criminal offence under national law, the illicit manufacturing of, trafficking in, and illegal possession and use of small arms and light weapons, ammunition and other related materials.

16. At Regional Level:
a. Establish or designate, as appropriate, a point of contact within sub-regional and regional organizations to act as liaison on matters relating to the implementation of the UNPoA, and

b. Encourage negotiations, where appropriate, with the aim of concluding relevant legally binding instruments aimed at preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects, and where they do exist to ratify and fully implement the...”